In an overwhelming 375-34 vote, the House of Representatives today passed a massive $611 new military spending bill. Though presented as the National Defense Authorization Act for 2017, the bill is only a portion of what the US will ultimately spend on the military in fiscal 2017.
The bill includes bans on any closure of any military bases by the Pentagon, once again rejecting calls by the military leadership to get rid of costly, unwanted bases, and also forbids the closure of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. It also forbids the Pentagon from going through with a plan to reduce the number of active duty soldiers,
Despite being far more money than the Pentagon and the administration sought, and despite being several times more than any other nation spends on their own military in a year, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R – TX), the Armed Services chair complained that the bill was much too small, and expressed hope that President-elect Donald Trump would push through another major spending bill in the early part of 2017.
Subsequent spending bills were expected at any rate, with the current spending caps theoretically limiting just how out of control the spending can get in an individual bill, and Congress having already decided to circumvent that cap by funding the wars only for a fraction of the year, necessitating an “emergency” supplement be passed to continue wars that no one in this administration or the next has any intention of ending.
The bill still has to pass the Senate, which it is expected to do early next week. With the removal of controversial riders authorizing military contractors to discriminate against gays and requiring women to register for the draft, the bill is expected to pass the Senate easily, as someone the unsustainable military spending itself is considered completely non-controversial.
Because we must keep up with the massive & modern weapons technology of ISIS, Somalia & Togo.
The US needs a consitutional amendment banning ‘lame duck’ sessions of Congress.
After all, its not like the new members of Congress still need time to ride a horse to DC. The ‘old’ Congress should be out of business on Election Day. The ‘new’ Congress should be able to serve much sooner than January. Although, to be honest, I wouldn’t mind a gap of several months where there is no Congress to waste our money on boondoggles.
I thought republicans were conservative . Fully 80% of the American people want a government that’s spends no more than what they take in . If twenty trillion was massive debt for Obama to get it still looks to be a lot Why not a NO red ink amendment . With Trump superior management we should get by with 1/3 of the expenses and still have a winning team
Oh boy, with Trump we can still have a massive bloated military but maybe at less cost. Making America great again.
Only time will tell. Raimondo’s hope are pinned on this quote which I don’t mind hoping on myself, subject to further data.
https://twitter.com/JustinRaimondo/status/805067189803831300
How do you stop or change a trillion dollar death cult with 3.2 million members that feeds off blood and fire and will destroy anyone or anything in its way?
By devaluing the currency when you have to default on the debt.
Mac Thornberry would never vote to improve the economic security of those he doubtless thinks of as the losers, which is to say the broad swath of Americans whose earnings have declined since 1976. The armed forces and the weapons makers can never have enough. Thus, cruelty, a disdain for the ideal of equality, and a twisted view of patriotism come together in the brain of another upward-striving Panhandle parasite.
Just pouring money down in the swamp!
August 16, 2016 Pentagon Cannot Account For $6.5 Trillion Dollars
A new Department of Defense Inspector General’s report, released last week, has left Americans stunned at the jaw-dropping lack of accountability and oversight. The glaring report revealed the Pentagon couldn’t account for $6.5 trillion dollars worth of Army general fund transactions and data, according to a report by the Fiscal Times.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/pentagon-cannot-account-for-6-5-trillion-dollars/5541244
There is some sort of grammar typo in the last sentence, “as someone the unsustainable military spending itself is considered completely non-controversial.” >someone< looks like it was meant to be some other word.
It’s good thing Trump has pledged to cut the Pentagon budget then. Oh wait…
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/sep/7/donald-trump-wants-bigger-military-bigger-defense-/
Donald Trump called for 50,000 more Army troops, more than 70 new Navy warships, 13 new Marine battalions and nearly 100 Air Force planes, proposing a massive surge in defense spending he said is needed to stop the rise of the Islamic State and to be better prepared for other global threats
(I’m sure none of that will ever be used, right?)
Seriously, people, $611 is not going to break the bank.
That’s only a portion of the Pentagon budget, which in turn is not the complete military budget, as many things of a military nature are taken care of in the budget for other agencies.
Did you not read this part “the bill is only a portion of what the US will ultimately spend on the military in fiscal 2017.
“
I guess it all depends on whose account at the bank it is being withdrawn from. Plenty of Americans have accounts that are looking mighty meager. Those that work at building bombs and bomb accessories are doing pretty darn well. That fact is atrocious.
…and Amerikans wonder why there’s ‘Endless War’? https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b7c92f23fead2084c08c34d1fb51cc9ee8869bac93e6c341ff718ab3ddf32eed.jpg